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10 Fen - Guangxu Eight characters
| Issuer | Chekiang Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1896-1897 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays four large Chinese characters arranged in a square formation reading 光緒元寶 (Guangxu Yuanbao), enclosed within a beaded inner circle. Surrounding the beaded circle, the outer legend reads in Chinese characters along the upper arc 浙江省造二十二年 (Made in Chekiang Province in the 22nd Year), with the weight denomination 庫平七分二釐 (7.2 Candareens, Library Standard) distributed along the lower arc. Manchu script equivalents appear at the left and right sides within the border. The design is executed in relief against a flat field, with a reeded outer rim framing the entire composition. |
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| Obverse lettering | 造省江浙年二十二 光 ᠪᠠᡩᠠᡵᠠᠩᡤᠠ 寶 ᠶᡠᠸᠠᠨ ᠪᠣᠣ 元 ᡩᠣᡵᠣ 緒 釐二分七平庫 (Translation: Made in Chekiang Province in Year 22 Guangxu (Emperor) / Yuanbao (Original currency) Guangxu (Emperor) / Yuanbao (Original currency) Worth 7.2 Candareens (weight)) |
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| Additional information |
Chekiang's early machine-struck coinage emerged from a provincial mint that had only recently acquired Western pressing equipment, part of the broader Self-Strengthening Movement's push to modernize Chinese manufacturing in the 1870s–90s. The "Eight characters" designation distinguishes this issue by the number of Chinese characters in the central field — a seemingly minor typological point that in practice signals distinct die marriages and has driven collectors to parse the series into multiple recognized varieties, as the Y# references reflect.
Provincial silver of this period frequently circulated alongside foreign trade dollars and older sycee silver, with weight and fineness varying enough that local merchants still relied on scales rather than face value.